When viewing the Mexican Revolution, a dichotomy between destruction and creation appears. When it kicked off in 1910, it was in the pursuit of noble goals. But at its core, the Revolution was a rebellion and at the heart of all rebellions is war. And with war comes destruction and death. While the Revolution last for at least a decade and perhaps longer, for the individuals involved life was often, as Thomas Hobbes once wrote, nasty, brutish, and short.
The new world opened an endless opportunity for nations from the old word to start establishing new roots in the uncharted territory. It was May 1, 1718, when the country Spain had discovered the territory of Texas. Spain conceited to live among the Native Americans, but relations became sour when the Spaniards captured and made Native American choose between dying or convert to Catholicism. For much of Texas’s history, the Mexican and Spanish flag dominated the state of Texas.
The conquistadors had three important motives: treasure, land, and religion. Wealth and personal gain were primary incentives for the conquistadors to face the obstacles that came with spending years on a ship to face thousands of terrifying heathens. It was common knowledge at the time that America was a land of great wealth, so the opportunity to acquire vast amounts of treasure was certainly an excellent motivator. By claiming territory in Peru, the conquistadors were also able to greatly improve Spain’s economic status while also preventing other European states from conquering the area. The environment in Peru was ideal for certain cash crops, and precious metals such as gold and silver were abundant.
The same hostilities were found in New Mexico, Naranjo a priest led a revolt against the Spanish colonists. The natives secretly planned an attack against the Spanish, to their misfortune the secret of their attack was out and impulsively carried out an attack. Spanish priests, women and children were killed, the governor was their next target but he escaped with his life. Under the orders of Naranjo the natives burned the Spanish churches and everything that pertained to Christianity, even seizing cultivated lands of the Spanish back as their own. The natives were tired of the Spanish rule over them and sought to drive out the inhabitants and their faith to restore their religion and way of life once more.
The first European power to set-up permanent settlements in America were the Spanish. The first Spanish permanent base was set up by Nicolas de Ovando, who in 1502 arrived with 2,500 men. Then in 1519 a man named Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec city using superior military technology and a disease called smallpox. The Aztec City takeover was the key to the Spanish success because they were warriors who were basically superior to their surrounding neighbors. The Aztecs were able to force the barbarian view on others, of course this was before the smallpox epidemic (Foner, 2012, pp.20-21)
In the year 1821, Mexico had won independence from Spain. They allowed for Americans to settle in Texas, they were given the land that no Mexicans had yet to claim. The only catch was for Americans to become Mexican citizens, learn Spanish and convert to Catholicism. They never really became “Mexican”, they kept speaking English and were still the same Americans as before arriving in Texas.
Was the Mexican War Justified? When does America have the right to go to war? America had every right to go to war with Mexico because they were farming the land and wanted to do it the way they wanted. Mexico wanted to control their religion, the use of slaves and wanted them to follow their rules.
In 1821, after a long bloody war, Mexico finally gets their independence from Spain. As Mexico separated from the Spaniards and were finally on their own, it was hard for them to build a nation that would unite them. Since Mexico was made up of many such as mestizos, Indios, and Native Americans, it was even harder to be united because the races divided them. Because Mexico was busy trying to build a nation their hold on Texas was not stable.
Within the past one and a half centuries, ever since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, it allowed the United States to take a large portion of land. Since then, many Mexicans have been trying to emigrate themselves over to America, leaving behind their homelands. Mexican immigration in the early 1900 's was a huge issue that impacted the United State, in areas such as urban population, employment and many other ways. The mass number of Mexican immigrant 's that migrated to the United States from Mexico was at nearly half million in between the years of 1920 and 1929. Mexicans left their native land and moved to the United States not only to achieve financial prosperity, but to get out of the chaotic environment that Mexico was in at
In 1967, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez wrote “I Am Joaquin,” a path breaking poem that helped shape an identity for thousands of Chicanas and Chicanos through its verses; and served as a key component in developing the Chicano Movement of the late 1960’s and 1970’s. During this time, the term Chicano was specific to Mexican Americans and the movement was very male centric. The term Chicano is key to the Chicano movement, but the definition of Chicano has evolved over time and I would argue continues to evolve. The Chicano movement excluded women as well other’s with similar struggles, like Central Americans who can also identify with this movement. The Chicano social identity should not exclude anyone, it should only expand; to all those of other
The indigenous were the first ones to arrive in Mexico. Mesoamerica was discovered and created by different tribes back in 800 B.C. History has many stories of how these people got here and lived, but a most
In 1519, Hernándo Cortés, a Spanish Conquistador ventured into Tenochtitlan, the capital of Aztec empire, searching for gold and glory. He set out to conquer the empire and to capture the Aztecs in order to achieve his ambitions. Moctezuma, the highly respected leader of the mighty Aztec Empire, came confronting with Hernán Cortés, the leader of a small band of professional European soldiers from a huge island that lay six day’s sail to the east. In “Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Women in the Conquest of Mexico” and “Mexico and the Spanish Conquest”, Camilla Townsend and Ross Hassig respectively present one histories in their own interpretations of the conquest of Mexico.
By introducing these new traditions on to the people of Mexico they slowly gained popularity and brought different people together. For example Spaniards created a different society to protect indigenous people, they slowly started to
When the did the gang start? How did it grow and develop? The Barrio Azteca was formed in El Paso, Texas in the prison system. The gang was formed in 1986 and the gang increased after 1996 because of the rise in the deportation of Mexican criminals from the USA.
In central Mexico the Spanish myth of the golden northern land stirred awareness in the legend of Aztlan. According to their own histories the Aztecs had left their homeland in 1168 and journeyed to the lakes where in 1325 where found in Tenochtitlan. By mid-1700’s the Edenic picture of the north had been forgotten in the minds of the authorities in Mexico City. Since most of the settler from the very beginning were Indians and Mestizos and had intermarried with northern natives it wasn’t surprising that eventually saw the border land as their
